Dimitroff calls Ryan a top-10 quarterback

Posted by Mike Florio on August 13, 2012, 7:35 PM EDT

AP

As it turns out, two NFC South quarterbacks received significant praise from a colleague on Monday. Bucs receiver Vincent Jackson called Tampa quarterback Josh Freeman a top-five quarterback. And Falcons G.M. Thomas Dimitroff started the day by calling Atlanta quarterback Matt Ryan a top-1o quarterback during an appearance on NFL Network.

Making Dimitroff’s assessment more significant than Jackson’s is the fact that Jackson has no influence of Freeman’s second contract. Dimitroff, on the other hand, will have a direct role in negotiating the deal that will replace or succeed Ryan’s rookie contract, which expires after the 2013 season.

In most cases, gushing from a G.M. will get used against him later. When it comes to Ryan, chances are that Tom Condon will take issue with Dimitroff’s assessment, on the basis that it’s too low.

Based on the NFLN annual offseason space-filling top-100 list, the league’s players definitely disagree with that.

In whatever order you want to put them, the best nine QBs in the league are Brady, Brees, Roethlisberger, Rodgers, Eli, Peyton, Rivers, Romo, and Stafford. They’re the franchise QBs.

Vick and Schaub are sort of on the bubble between this group and the ones who follow. So there’s eleven who are better than Ryan.

After them – and that’s a full 1/3 of the league, by the way – you have the guys who have flashes of greatness, but overall are just good enough too keep their jobs. Those guys are Ryan, Cutler, Flacco, Freeman, Cassel and Bradford. So, congratulations, Matty, you’re in the muddled middle who hasn’t done enough to get replaced and who hasn’t done enough to be irreplaceable.

Ryan has the potential to be a top 10 QB. He has got to get better throwing the long ball. He would have killed my Texans last year on the first two possessions if he was accurate to his TWO elite wideouts on the long ball.

So? They ranked Flacco, Tebow, Rivers, and Peyton Manning ahead of Matt Ryan. None of those guys were better quarterbacks than Matt in 2012. Also, Matt was ranked 52nd in the Top 100 of 2011. In 2012 he had a better statistical season than 2011, and wasn’t even ranked at all. How does that make any sense?

As a Saints fan, I enjoy hearing Dimitroff say this. If he thinks a quarterback who’s 0-3 in the playoffs (i.e., choker) is top 10 caliber, I like having a GM in our division who’s this “savvy” in terms of talent evaluation.

OH, and jonnyb1976, it’d be more effective when calling someone retarded if you yourself knew how to use YOUR — as in the possessive of you — as opposed to YOU’RE, a contraction of you are. It’s really quite simple, if you’re not retarted… see, the apostrophe combines the two words, you and are. Your retarted means it’s my retarted, and since their is no such object as a retarted, that sentence sounds as if it might have been written by someone who is, unfortunately, mentally retarded.
It’s a shame, really, the use of offensive personal slurs, is SUCH an advanced form of debate, it would have been a devastating post without the illiteracy.

Can’t put Ryan above Flacco until he wins some playoff games. So far he has come up small in the big games. Meanwhile, Flacco has won at least one playoff game every year he has been in the league.

When you compare their stats, they are almost identical. But Ryan has a top flight WR crew that Flacco has never had. Tony G. is better than Todd Heap ever was. Their offensive lines are similar. Ray Rice is better than Turner, but not by leaps and bounds.

Bottom line is that Flacco has come thru in the playoffs and Matty Ice has pissed down his leg.

Sorry, but I don’t think a QB should make the top 10 list until they’ve won at least 1 play-off game. Ryan has lots of weapons (Tony Gonzales, Roddy White, Michael Turner, and now Julio Jones), so there’s no excuse for his disappearing act during the post-season.